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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

AWP Starts Next Wednesday in DC - Who's Going?

We're counting down to AWP as it's one week away.

What I can tell you is I have only been to one AWP and while I loved it, I also was quite overwhelmed and many times had to retreat back to my hotel room for quiet time. (This tends to be my style, lots of talk and contact, then alone time...lots of talk and contact, then alone time. I'm an introvert with extroverted tendencies.)

The best part about AWP was that it was great to finally meet people I had only known through blogs and email. Now, I have Facebook friends I've never met. I heard last year's AWP was the first "Hey, I think we're Facebook friends" conference, as that was overheard more times than not.

You will recognize me at the conference because I will be a) drinking coffee b) snacking c) taking a photo d) looking confused/wandering aimlessly e) reading the program. I am always looking at the program.

I hope to run into some of you there. This will be my first AWP since Vancouver. I'm out of practice, but looking forward to attending.

I'll be at the White Pine Press book table from 3pm- 4pm for a booksigning on Thursday, Feb 3rd. And then I'll be reading with Susan Rich at Busboys & Poets (the 4th & K street location) at 7 pm that same Thursday evening.

These are the only places I know I'll be for sure. All the rest is up in the air.

If you do go to AWP, do introduce yourself. While these events can feel big to me, meeting people helps me make it feel a little smaller.

I'll be there. I'm not in any panels or other events, will just be lurking suspiciously. :)

A few events that are high-priority for me to get to, so far, are:

Langston Hughes tribute, 3:00 Friday, sponsored by Split This Rock. (According to the event description, Hughes once worked bussing tables in the restaurant in the Marriott Wardman hotel, where most of the AWP events will be.)

"Poetry of Resistance: Poets Take on Reasonable Suspicion," 9:00 a.m. Saturday. A panel (or maybe partly a reading too) concerned with the anti-immigrant laws passed in Arizona last year. A couple of the panelists are Lorna Dee Cervantes and Francisco Alarcon.

"Undivided: Poet as Public Citizen," 1:30 Saturday. Three of the panelists are Carolyn Forche, Martin Espada, and Mark Nowak.

A couple of others that caught my attention are "Hands On: A Conversation about DIY and Craft Culture in a Digital World" (9:00 a.m. Thursday), and "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Writings of Leonard Peltier" (1:30 Thursday).

There are a few others that I'll need to pick and choose from, that have people on the panels that I either know or have talked with online.

I've also got my eye on an off-site event, "Floricanto in Washington: A Multicultural Response to SB 1070." SB 1070 is the Arizona anti-immigrant legislation. The event is Friday at 6:00 p.m. at 1200 U St. N.W. It's sponsored by Split This Rock and a couple of other organizations.

I'll be there--I plan to be at the White Pine reading Thursday night, and my mom and dad might come too, as they live in the area (I gave my dad your book for his birthday and my mom will be getting Susan Rich's book for hers, so they might be curious enough to come to the reading).

The panel that I'm most looking forward to is the Sat. panel at 4:30 called "Doing It All": women who are poets and academics with "significant administrative responsibilities"--sounds like my life, and I hope to pick up some tips.